Four applicants to pitch for Chicago Southland casino licence
Applicants will make their pitches at a special Illinois Gaming Board session on October 13.
US.- Four applicants will pitch for a licence to operate a casino in Chicago Southland. The Illinois Gaming Board is expected to narrow the list of contenders down to three at a pitching session to take place on October 13.
Board member Marcus Fruchter said the board expects to make a decision on licences not only for the Southland Casino, but also for a casino in Waukegan, which has three applicants.
The four contenders for Southland are:
- Homewood, which is partnering with East Hazel Crest on a proposed site straddling the border of both communities, with Wind Creek LLC as developer.
- Calumet City, partnering with Delaware North, which proposes to use part of the River Oaks shopping center at Torrence Avenue, east of Interstate 94, for a casino and related development.
- Lynwood and partner Ho-Chunk Nation are proposing a casino east of Illinois 394 and north of the interchange with Glenwood-Dyer Road.
- Matteson, partnering with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, proposes a casino at the former Lincoln Mall site at US 30 and Cicero Avenue.
After hearing the applicants’ pitches, the board will make a decision on licences for both casinos by early January.
In May 2019, the state’s General Assembly approved the expansion of the number of casino licences from the current 10. In addition to these two licences, a further four were designated for Chicago, Danville, Rockford and Williamson County.
See also: Illinois to decide on new casino licences in January
